By Kelly McCarley
Maryland
March 2025
My name is Kelly McCarley and I am a three-time cancer survivor. I have had ovarian, peritoneal, and lung cancers. My last surgery, for lung cancer, was four years ago. I'm a mother of two awesome adult children, a girl and a boy, and I’ve been married to my wonderful husband for 34 years. While cancer took away a career that I truly loved and was passionate about, it didn't take my life. I refuse to give in.
My cancer journey started in 2009 with surgery to remove a teratoma (a rare type of benign tumor) from my uterus. I was told then the tumor was non-cancerous, but I and some members of my medical team now believe that was incorrect. About a year after surgery, I had begun gaining weight, although I didn't change my eating or exercise pattern. No matter what I did, I couldn't lose any weight. Beginning in January 2016, I was continually sick with what was thought to be sinus infections. I had had a lot of them over the years, but now they had become constant. I went through every medication my internal medicine doctor could give me and then went to an allergist, an Ear Nose and Throat doctor, and a sinus specialist for other medications. In May 2016, I started having a dry, constant, annoying cough. Once again, we went through many different medicines, but nothing stopped the cough. I also began feeling very fatigued, but just thought it was from all the coughing. This continued into October with the fatigue getting worse. By January 2017, I was beyond fatigued, yet I was going to work every day, and every day by 11:00 am I was running a 104-degree fever.
I worked for an orthopedic surgeon’s office and, as you can imagine, you don't ever call in sick. To get through each workday, I would nap in my car during my 30-minute lunch break so I could try to keep working. Eventually, I couldn't make it to my car, so I would fall asleep in one of the empty exam rooms. My weight was up to 225 pounds. I had never even gotten close to 200 pounds before. Worst of all, I barely ate because of being so tired. One day, one of the surgeons I worked for found me sleeping during lunch. She was aware of everything I had been going through, and recommended I go to a pulmonary doctor. I'd already been through four different doctors by this point and really didn't want to go to another, but I trusted her opinion. When I went to my appointment, the pulmonary doctor told me he was upset that they had scheduled me because he was leaving on vacation, and the office should have been closed. Yes, he actually told me this! He then sent me to have a CT scan and later told me if I wanted to breathe better, I needed to lose weight. I had already told him that I had been gaining for a while and was not able to lose any. At that moment, he got up and left. Normally, I would have given him a piece of my mind, but at this point I could barely think or even keep my eyes open.
I had the CT scan and later that evening the on-call doctor for the pulmonary practice called me and said he had my results, and he wanted me to see an oncologist as soon as possible. He said he wasn't sure I had cancer but wanted the oncologist to rule it out. I never saw this coming! While waiting to get in with the oncologist, my husband took me to the ER four different nights because of the high fevers and not being able to pick myself up. Finally, one night, they kept me for observation. One doctor mentioned the word cancer, but it was so quick that none of us really caught onto it. They sent me home the next day saying it was a bad case of the flu.
My oncology appointment was the following day. My sister had to walk me into the office as I could no longer hold myself up. I climbed up on the couch in the waiting room so I could sleep. The nurse immediately came out and got me to take me into an examination room. The oncologist came in, checked me over very quickly and had them take me to the hospital immediately. He came by later to check on me and said he believed it was cancer, and they would begin testing. Apparently, all the weight that I had been gaining and not able to get rid of was fluid called ascites (a-SIGHT-teez) and was a cancer symptom.
I still don't know why none of the doctors I went to ever thought about checking for it. And yes, I was furious. This had gone on for over a year, allowing the cancer to worsen. Further testing showed that I had both peritoneal and ovarian cancer.
The hospital I was at was unable to do the kind of surgery I needed. One of the doctors on staff also worked at Mercy Medical Center with Dr. Armando Sardi and recommended I see him.
I made an appointment but couldn't get in for two months. During those two months, the hospital had me coming in one to two times a week so they could empty fluid out of my abdomen so I could breathe. The first time I met Dr. Sardi I was so sick that I could barely hold my head up or listen as I just wanted to sleep. He examined me and I will NEVER forget him saying "I can help you." It was the first time I felt someone really cared and wanted to keep me alive. He stated that HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy) surgery was my only hope.
My husband and I went home with a surgical appointment that was six weeks away, and more scared than we’d ever been in our lives. That said, there was just something about Dr. Sardi that had my mind saying, “trust him.” Dr. Sardi told me that if we had any problems to come to the emergency room at Mercy, not to the hospital I was at before, and to have someone call him. He also told me to stop letting the previous hospital remove the fluid as they could abscess my abdomen. When I saw that appointment date--six weeks away--I remember saying to my husband that I was not going to make it. I know now that when you're that close to death, you know it even though you don't know how you know it. It's just there, and I remember a calm came over me.
Two weeks later, my husband came home and found me lying on the floor. I was barely conscious; I couldn't get up and I could barely breathe. He got me in the car, and we drove to Mercy Hospital, which is an hour and a half from our home. I don't remember anything from that evening. I don't remember leaving home or the drive there or walking into the ER at Mercy. The next thing I knew I was in a room at Mercy Hospital and five days later was rushed into surgery. Dr. Sardi performed the HIPEC surgery and now it was a wait-and-see recovery, although Dr. Sardi was confident. I was in Mercy for three and a half weeks because of some complications, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Dr. Sardi and HIPEC surgery saved my life!
But it was more than just HIPEC, it was Dr. Sardi and his amazing team. They are true heroes and angels, and I am so blessed that I found them! There is not a day goes by, or a night in my prayers, that I don't think of and mention Dr. Sardi. It's not just a job to him; he truly cares about his patients, and that care is what helps his patients survive. I can say with 100 percent certainty that God lent us one of his angels in the form of Dr. Sardi. His abilities go far beyond that of a normal human being, and that's the absolute truth.
I have spoken to newly diagnosed patients and the one thing I always tell them is NEVER give up! No matter how hard it gets, fight and stay positive. No, it's not going to be easy, but that's how you survive. Yes, there are going to be times when you are feeling down and out, those are the times to pick yourself up and keep fighting... you CAN do it! Don't give up! Just remember, you can beat this disease if you don't let it beat you. Keep your family and friends close all the time for their positive support. Don't allow anyone, I don't care who it is, around you that is the least bit negative. You have no time or energy for that. I firmly believe this and it's how I got through and am still alive today. What this disease taught me is that I am tough, and I will fight every single time to stay alive. I learned this from Dr. Sardi and his fight to cure me. He made me believe and want to fight. He's just absolutely the best, and every time I see him I just hug him.
Although my children were in their teens during all of this, they continue to spread the word about Dr. Sardi and HIPEC. My son is now an oncology nurse, and he tells patients about Dr. Sardi and HIPEC even though he's at a different hospital, and he shares my story with them. My daughter is a schoolteacher and shares about Dr. Sardi and HIPEC, as well as my story, when she meets students or parents going through the same thing. Her school and some sports teams raise money for Heat It To Beat It (a fundraiser of Mercy Hospital for HIPEC) too...she often sees students wearing the shirts.
So FIGHT! We are all warriors and we CAN beat it!!! Believe it!!!
